


I Bet My Life

by Unda



Series: It's the end of the world as we know it [7]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-29
Updated: 2017-08-29
Packaged: 2018-12-21 08:03:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11939838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unda/pseuds/Unda
Summary: One of the free will sections of Chapter 25, matching >Dave: Hope your weird jungle girl is ok. Set just after the end of chapter 24.





	I Bet My Life

_I know I took the path that you would never want for me_

_I know I let you down, didn't I?_

_So many sleepless nights where you were waiting up on me_

_Well I'm just a slave unto the night_

 

You walk through the forest behind Jake, a large bag open in your hands as he reaches up to feel the mangoes on the trees ahead of you to see if they’re ready. Your phone pings and you take it out curiously, you really hope it’s Dave with another picture of a dog. It’s not though, but rather a new post in your memo for SBURB.

 

AA: hey jade! just wanted to let you know that somehow the cat is out of the bag when it comes to the game

GA: Yes Signless Has Given An Entire Speech About And Somehow The Strilondes Knew About The Meteors Ahead Of Time

GG: what??? but that wasn’t supposed to happen yet!

AA: たわごとは犯されている

GG: that had better be worth google translating damara because i know you speak english!!

GA: On The Positive Side They Are All Agreeing To Play The Game And Karkat Is Stepping Up To A Leader Role

GA: The questio+n is whether o+r no+t Karkat is ready fo+r that respo+nsibility witho+ut the extra fo+ur mo+nths o+f perso+nal gro+wth.

GG: i guess we cant unburst this bubble though do you think they intend to tell jake jane and john?

GA: Karkat Is Presently Assigning That Task To The Strilondes So If You Want To Tell Jake Yourself Rather Than Have Dirk Give His Version With Limited Understanding I Would Say That Time Is Of The Essence

GG: oh gosh thank you i will!

AA: がんばろう

 

You put your phone away and look up at your brother as he plucks a ripe mango from the tree and another nearly ripe one just after it. He turns to you with a look of satisfaction and you hold out your large burlap bag.

 

“The rest look like they’ll take a while longer but I think maybe next week we could do with canning some of these.” Jake says thoughtfully.

 

“I see mango smoothies in my future.” you joke and Jake grins.

 

“Not my fault that you binge on them the moment they’re ripe and then get sick of them, you ought to spread them out over the year missy!” he laughs and walks along down the path to where the pineapples are starting to properly fruit.

 

“Hey uh… Jake?” you say hesitantly, you had really planned to have more time for this conversation and the clouds were so clear about Jake not knowing what was happening when the game started. How could your visions from the clouds be wrong?

 

“Yes?” he asks, hopping over a felled tree.

 

“Can I tell you something and- and when I tell you can you promise to take everything I’m saying totally seriously and only question it at the end if you have to? And… oh, if you think it’s too far fetched you could pretend like it’s a movie plot!” you say as the idea hits you.

 

“Oh, colour me intrigued. But got on, I’m all ears.” he tells you as you hop over the felled tree as well.

 

“Uh… ok so… imagine that you had a destiny but didn’t know about it, but it was always going to happen.” you begin carefully.

 

“Some of the best stories start that way!” Jake says brightly. Bec bursts out of a bush and drops a well-chewed ball at his feet.

 

“Right, right, now suppose that your destiny was to play a game. But it’s not like a regular old game it’s sort of magic and it creates a whole new universe and when you play it you’re taken to a totally different place.” you explain as Jake picks up the slobbery ball.

 

“Hm, a little like Jumanji then? Minus the new universe part, unless that’s what the other movie made by the same people was about. I never got to watching that now that I think about it. FETCH!” Jake shouts and flings the ball. Bec disappears in a flash of green light.

 

“Huh, I’d never thought of it like that but Jumanji is actually a really good metaphor for it. Ok so, you have to play this game and you have to play it with all of our friends, and it means that the Earth will be destroyed but you get to make a new one. And Dirk and Roxy will play and Jane too, plus all of my friends and their family and soulmates. It’s a really big group, so it’s not like we’re alone. But we have to do it and it’s going to happen in April, on the thirteenth.” you say in a rush.

 

“Wow.” Jake says, stopping to look at you.

 

Bec flashes back and drops a plastic pink flamingo at his feet. Jake picks it up with a curious frown.

 

“That’s not quite your ball but good job anyway boy.” Jake tells him and ruffles his white fur.

 

“So… so that’s what I had to say. What do you say to that? And I am being totally serious here.” you say in your most serious voice.

 

“Well, I mean it sounds like it would make a bloody great film but do you really mean to say that you think this is going to happen?” Jake asks, looking at you incredulously.

 

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. Cross my heart.” you insist.

 

“I, well I suppose I did promise to consider what you said seriously. I just don’t see how such a thing would work in the real world without movie magic behind it or how you would know about it.” Jake points out, frustratingly reasonably.

 

“I don’t totally understand how it works, I just know that it does. And I think you’re just going to have to trust me on this. It’s not magic but-” you try and Jake laughs.

 

“It sounds pretty bloody magical to me! So we play a game, and we and everyone in our social circle and _their_ social circle just gets zapped into the real world like Jumanji or The Matrix? And I’m supposed to buy into this when you can’t even take a good stab at explaining it?” Jake laughs.

 

“Just because I can’t- that’s not fair! You let other things go just fine, I mean we have a magic dog!” you snap, gesturing at Bec. That’s a mistake because it gets your hand licked with a neon green tongue.

 

“Bec isn’t magic, he’s just…” Jake trails off.

 

“Yeah, exactly. And remember ‘any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic’? Me being unable to explain how something happens doesn’t mean it that won’t or doesn’t. I can’t explain all of quantum physics, and that goes on ticking nicely without my know how!” you point out.

 

Jake stands there looking at you and runs his hand through his hair a few times before eventually sitting on the fallen tree.

 

“Jade, are you really being serious here? This isn’t some elaborate prank?” he asks, all joking and laughing gone from his tone.

 

“I’m completely serious.” you insist and sit next to him.

 

Jake puffs up his cheeks and then blows the air out in one great big sigh.

 

“Well then, it would be rude of me to just accuse you of lying right to your face, and I can’t see any harm in going along with this. That way if you turn out to be right I’m not caught flat footed and if you’re wrong then no harm is done, right?” he says thoughtfully.

 

“Right!” you agree brightly.

 

“Well then, run this by me again. We all play, do we all go to the same place? I hope so because I don’t like the idea of being split up from you forever.” he says, standing up and pulling you to your feet as well. The two of you head towards the pineapples again.

 

“We don’t end up in the same place at first, but we get there in the end. Besides we can message each other when we’re in there so it’s just like being on the other side of the island to me! Anyway… Dirk will be there too.” you say teasingly and you can’t help but enjoy the way that Jake’s cheeks go a little pink at that and how his hand drifts to his marked up arm.

 

“That would be something.” he says quietly.

 

“I’m so looking forward to meeting everyone in person, you know? Oh, and there’s fighting in the game too, you’ll get to shoot things!” you say excitedly and Jake beams.

 

“I can hardly pass up a chance to be a real hero and meet my friends and maybe, just maybe, sweep that unflappable Strider off of his feet!” Jake laughs excitedly. You smile up at your big brother, it’s such a relief to finally be able to talk to him about it. Frankly, you’re not a good liar and you’re sad that you had to hide any of this from anyone. You can’t help but be a little disturbed at your visions being wrong but if this is how things are playing out now then you just have to roll with it.

 

Jake’s phone pings and he take it out and smiles at it.

 

“Speak of the devil.” he says with a soft laugh and starts typing. Good, you got to him before Dirk.

 

You take a picture of the pineapple plants when you get to them, every time you send them to John he just sends you messages of no no no no no no no no no no no no because the dummy is CERTAIN that they only grow on trees.

 

Your name is Jade Harley and the world is ending but it’s not like it’s, you know, the end of the world.

 


End file.
